Bogdan Rancea is the founder and lead curator of ecomm.design, a showcase of the best ecommerce websites. With over 12 years in the digital commerce space he has a wealth of knowledge and a keen eye for great online retail experiences. As an ecommerce tech explorer Bogdan tests and reviews various platforms and design tools like Shopify, Figma and Canva and provides practical advice for store owners and designers. His hands on experience with these tools and his knowledge of ecommerce design trends makes him a valuable resource for businesses looking to improve their online presence. On ecomm.design Bogdan writes about online stores, ecommerce design and tips for entrepreneurs and designers.
I’ve run ecommerce A/B tests that flopped, some that moved the needle slightly, and a few that completely changed how the business performed.
If you’ve been poking around with button colours or random CTA changes hoping for miracles, it’s time to stop guessing. A/B testing can absolutely work—but only if you do it right and test the right things.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through what I’ve learned running A/B tests in ecommerce—what worked, what didn’t, and what’s worth your time.
When I first started building ecommerce stores, I thought design would be the hardest part. Turns out, the real challenge is function.
If people can’t find what they want, trust your store, or complete checkout easily — nothing else matters. You can have beautiful branding and great products, but if the experience is clunky, sales will suffer.
Webflow is our top-rated website builder for custom ecommerce design, offering a rare mix of visual freedom, built-in CMS tools, and fast-loading, SEO-friendly pages that help your store stand out — and scale up.
After testing over a dozen top ecommerce platforms, I can confidently say Webflow is the best choice for businesses that want full control over design and performance.
In this review, I’ll take a closer look at Webflow’s ecommerce features, site speed, pricing, and who it’s really for — so you can decide whether it fits your brand.
If you’re building a content-first site with full design control and you’re working in a Jamstack environment, Snipcart gives you the flexibility. But it comes with dev overhead.
Shopify, on the other hand, is ideal if you want to launch quickly, manage everything in one place, and don’t want to mess with code. It’s the platform I recommend to most clients who want to grow fast without hiring a developer.
Quick answer: Prestashop is a solid open-source ecommerce platform if you’re a developer, agency, or someone who loves full control over your store setup.
But if you’re a non-techy founder or want simplicity, it’s going to slow you down.
After using Prestashop on multiple client stores, I’d say it’s powerful—but only in the right hands.
Quick answer: If you’re not technical and want a store live today, go Shopify. If you’re technical or have a dev and want full control with no monthly fees, OpenCart wins.
Shopify and OpenCart are two of the most talked-about ecommerce platforms on the market — but which one actually delivers where it counts?
I’ve spent years building stores on both platforms, testing them under real-world conditions with real clients, and this comparison pulls from that hands-on experience. If you’re stuck trying to choose between them, this guide will walk you through every key difference — from setup and pricing to SEO, design, and long-term scalability.
If you’re trying to build or scale an ecommerce store, chances are you’ve looked at Shopify and Prestashop. Both are solid contenders, but they offer wildly different experiences depending on your business stage, tech skills, and growth goals.
Quick Answer:
Use Shopify if you want an easy, all-in-one platform that handles the heavy lifting.
Use Prestashop if you want complete control, can code (or have a dev), and don’t mind piecing things together.
I’ve worked with both—clients scaling 7-figure stores on Shopify and dev-heavy setups on Prestashop. So here’s what I know, tested, and learned the hard way.
Quick Answer: PinnacleCart is fast, SEO-focused, and great for customisation — but it’s not beginner-friendly. It’s ideal for developers or experienced store owners who want full control, not for first-timers looking for a simple drag-and-drop setup.
Short answer: BigCommerce plans run $39 per month for Core, $105 for Growth, and $399 for Scale, with roughly 25 percent off on annual billing. Performance is custom priced and starts at $1,499 per month on an annual contract.
But the sticker price is now the least interesting part of the equation. BigCommerce restructured its plans on June 1, and the changes underneath the rename matter far more than the monthly fee.
BigCommerce still gets labelled an enterprise-only platform, and that has never been true. It remains one of the better setups for growing stores that need real control over design, SEO, and performance without hitting a ceiling.
What has changed is how you should budget for it. After consulting ecommerce brands for over a decade and reviewing over 6,000 stores for our ecommerce design gallery, I have watched a lot of merchants pick a platform on the headline price and get surprised eighteen months later. On BigCommerce right now, that risk is higher than it used to be.
Quick answer: Yes—Creative Fabrica is 100% worth it if you’re running an ecommerce business that relies on design, branding, or product visuals. For $9 a month, it’s hands-down the best value library of fonts, graphics, and ready-to-sell POD assets I’ve ever used.
But it’s not perfect. Here’s everything you need to know before you sign up.
When I first got into ecommerce design, I focused way too much on visuals. I’d obsess over the right font, try out trendy colours, and waste hours pushing pixels.
What I didn’t realise is that customer experience design (CXD) isn’t just how something looks. It’s how a customer feels moving through your store.
Once I started thinking about how people actually use ecommerce sites, everything changed. Bounce rates dropped, conversions went up, and returning customer rates climbed.
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